Kazakhstan

In late 2011, all Peace Corps activity in country was suspended at the recommendation of a Safety and Security assessment team from Washington. All PCVs serving in-country were evacuated.

Kazakhstan was the second largest republic of the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union was dismantled, Kazakhstan declared its independence in December 1991. The first Peace Corps Volunteers arrived in Kazakhstan in July 1993, and subsequent Volunteers served people and communities making the difficult transition from communism to a free-market economy. Peace Corps Volunteers also engaged in a variety of cross-cultural exchanges that helped Americans and Kazakhstanis gain a better understanding about each other's histories, languages, and cultures.

In collaboration with government ministries, local governments, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), Peace Corps Volunteers in Kazakhstan worked in three program areas: education (EDU), organizational development (OD), and youth development (YD). The former organizational and community assistance program (OCAP) was reviewed during the 2008 - 2009 fiscal year and accordingly divided into the new OD and YD programs.

Since the first Peace Corps Volunteers arrived in Kazakhstan in 1993, approximately 700 Volunteers have served here. The first group consisted of 50 English language and economic development Volunteers.

You will live with a host family for the first four months (reduced in 2010 from six months) of your service in addition to staying with a host family during pre-service training. Depending on your site placement, you may continue to live with a host family or move to a dorm or apartment. There are many sites in smaller communities where independent living is not an option, so some Volunteers will stay with families for the duration of their service. If you feel you cannot live with a host family for this period of time, you should consider carefully whether you wish to accept this assignment in Kazakhstan.

There are many benefits to staying with a host family, including companionship upon arrival at site, faster acquisition of the local language, and improved integration into the local community. Aspects of host-family living that Volunteers may find challenging include the lack of privacy and independence and eating local cuisine. Volunteers are not allowed to supplement their living allowance to live in an accommodation above the level acceptable for a Volunteer.

Your Peace Corps training begins in the United States during pre-departure orientation, when you come together as a group to prepare for your flight to Kazakhstan. When you arrive in Almaty, you will be met at the airport and transported by bus to your training site. Pre-service training lasts about 10 weeks and consists of Kazakh and Russian language instruction, cross-cultural awareness, health and personal safety, and technical skills—depending on your assignment. Pre-service training emphasizes experiential learning in which you take responsibility for your own learning. Training is an immersion model—that is, being immersed in the local living and work conditions. During your first week in-country, you will move in with a host family selected by the Peace Corps. Expect to deal with the frustrations of language barriers and cultural differences from the start. Expect to deal with frustrations due to lack of e-mail, telephones, copy machines, and computers. Training will prepare you for your first three to six months at site and the techniques for continued individual learning. It is also the time for you to make an informed two-year commitment to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kazakhstan.

The Peace Corps’ highest priority is maintaining the good health and safety of every Volunteer. Peace Corps medical programs emphasize the preventive, rather than the curative, approach to disease. The Peace Corps in Kazakhstan maintains a clinic with full-time medical officers, who take care of Volunteers’ primary healthcare needs. If you become seriously ill, you will be transported to either an American medical facility in the region or to the United States.

In Kazakhstan, as in other countries, poorer areas are dirking contaminted, and dirty water. The water is harmful to Kazakhstan's people.
Outside of Kazakhstan’s capital, residents of rural communities have had terrible access to fresh, clean water. What is advertised as a great well developed country, in some poor areas, it is the complete opposite, Kazakhstan is a still developing country. Anthoer example of misperceprion is, the perception in some countries that all Americans are rich and have blond hair and blue eyes. The people of Kazakhstan are justly known for their generous hospitality to foreigners; however, members of the community are very poor and do not have money fot the fresh water. volunteers are needed to be supportive the people going through such a hard time.

Having received input from a number of current Volunteers, it is safe to say that everyone agrees that you can buy everything that you need in Kazakhstan and that bringing as little as possible is the best strategy, not only for practical reasons regarding weight and transport, but also because you'll rapidly acquire a great deal of additional belongings from Peace Corps itself during training. With that caveat, this section contains several lists of the “basics” and the most common recommendations from Volunteers.

Remember you have a 100-pound baggage weight restriction and that Kazakhstanis have been living here for centuries without imports!

During training, you will primarily need “business casual” attire, though there are occasions (such as the swearing-in ceremony) when more formal attire is appropriate (jackets for men, dresses/skirts for women).

Contributions to the Kazakhstan Country Fund will support Volunteer and community projects that will take place in Kazakhstan. These projects include water and sanitation, agricultural development, and youth programs.